Every few months, someone writes an obituary for outdoor advertising.
“Hoardings don’t work anymore.”
“Bus ads are outdated.”
“Billboards can’t be tracked.”
Funny thing?
While digital marketers are busy declaring it dead, outdoor is quietly shaping the way people remember brands.
Walk down any main road in Mysuru.
Which brand names stick with you?
Chances are, it’s the ones you’ve seen 10 feet tall on a junction board, not 10 pixels wide in a banner ad.
Why People Think Outdoor is Dead
The story goes like this:
Digital gives you clicks, targeting, and reports.
Outdoor is just “visibility” with no direct measurement.
And in a world obsessed with dashboards, anything that doesn’t fit in an Excel sheet gets called “dead.”
But here’s the truth: visibility isn’t dead — it just doesn’t come with a Google Analytics link.
The Reality: Outdoor is Still a Heavyweight
Outdoor advertising has three things digital can’t replicate:
- Unskippable Attention. You can scroll past an ad, but you can’t ignore a hoarding in front of you every morning.
- Mass Legitimacy. If your brand is on a 40-foot board, people assume you’re serious.
- Cultural Connection. Outdoor campaigns tie into local festivals, events, and city pride in a way digital struggles to.
Outdoor doesn’t chase you. It stays with you.
The Myth Busters
Here’s what we see on ground at OPS:
- Restaurant launches: Outdoor creates buzz → digital closes bookings.
- Real estate: A hoarding in Mysuru Outer Ring Road builds trust → Google Ads nudge the enquiry.
- Festivals: Outdoor becomes part of the city’s celebration → social campaigns ride the same emotion.
It’s not outdoor vs digital.
It’s outdoor plus digital.
Why the Myth Persists
Because outdoor is harder to measure.
Because it doesn’t show you “CTR” or “conversion pixels.”
But just ask yourself:
How many times have you walked into a store because you saw it on your commute?
How many times have you remembered a brand because of a billboard?
That’s the ROI you feel before you count.
The 2025 Truth
- Outdoor advertising isn’t dying.
- What’s dying is the ability to sell outdoor without creativity.
- A boring hoarding is invisible. A smart one is unforgettable.
And when paired with digital, it doesn’t just work — it dominates.
My Take
Outdoor is alive.
It’s just been misrepresented by people who make money only if you believe otherwise.
At One Point Solutions, we’ve run outdoor campaigns for over 15 years across Mysuru and Karnataka.
Not once have we seen a strong outdoor campaign fail when paired with the right digital push.
The myth is simple: outdoor is dead.
The truth is even simpler: outdoor makes your brand unforgettable.